Brother 940 Lace Sweater

This sweater I knitted on the Brother 940 was SO NOT WORTH IT! My original idea was a lace overlay in gray over a black sweater and it was going to be attached at the neck and armholes. I did tension swatches in black Diamonte and gray Tepeyac. I decided to make the front of the black sweater first. Then I started on the gray lace overlay. I spent a long time trying to figure out how to start the lace edge and how many stitches to increase to make the diagonal. Then I think it took me 8 hours just to do the front that actually became the back. lol I knitted too far and was not going to rip it back so I continued and made it the back. When I finished it I realized that Tepeyac is a little heavier than Diamonte and the sweater would be too heavy for my liking. Then I thought that I would just make a gray lace sweater and wear a turtleneck. The lace pattern is 158 in Stitch World .

For every two rows of knitting you have to run the lace carriage across 8 times. I figured that between the front, back and the two sleeves, I ran the lace carriage 4,304 times! It was actually more because I did not count the left front shaping. I knew when I chose it that it would take time but I never figured it to be that much time. The first time I dropped a stitch, it took at least 15 minutes to correct it. And with eight passes between two rows, there were many times a stitch could drop. Because it was so hard to rip out, I knitted a thin piece of nylon thread in with the regular yarn every 20 rows . I think hand knitters call this a life line. I used almost the whole spool of thread but it definitely was worth it. The thread was so strong that it pulled out like ravel cord.

Originally, I was going to have black stockinette sleeves. However, when I changed my mind and decided on gray stockinette sleeves, I had to knit another tension swatch .I did that and laundered it and knitted a sleeve and attached it and……did not like it. I removed it and went back to the lace design for the sleeves. Now add two more days of knitting but I like the look better with the lace sleeves.

To start the lace on a diagonal, I knit up the amount of stitches needed for the front , first with waste yarn, then a crochet cast on and knit one row of gray and removed on waste yarn. When I increased, I just hung the stitches from the strip that I had knitted up. I hung six stitches every four rows. When I removed the waste yarn it looked like I had cast on at the beginning. When I finished the front and back, I crocheted in the cast on stitch on the wrong side. The edge had a wave to it so I crocheted 1 stitch in the next 3 stitches and then 3 crochets in one stitch, then 1 stitch in the next three stitches and then skipped a stitch . I repeated around the bottom. Then I crocheted a second row with the right side facing me. It was like crocheting a ripple afghan .

Oh, one last thing. Because I was originally going to do the two sweaters hooked together I made a higher neck line since I would not be wearing a turtleneck under it. So when I finished the front , I thought the neck was too high so I did a cut and sew neckline. That was fun….not!

I recently saw a beautiful lace cardigan on one of the Facebook knitting machine groups and the woman said that for the time it took her, she would have been better off going out and buying a sweater. I am in agreement with her there! 🙂

Thank you Diana. No, no knit leader. And as far as knitting another?…….Never. That is why I did not offer to share this . I did not go into detail on my notes to make another since it was taking so long just to make it. lol

Thank you Sherry. I have to be honest because I make mistakes too. And some of them are just because I was not thinking. I find now that the idea is not how fast I can make a sweater, but how well I do the job. I have been taking my time and enjoying it while I do. If I don’t like it, I rip it out. Thank you for your input. Wait until you see the next one I am working on. Lots of honesty will be coming your way. lol

Ann Poprdan Said:

Hi Carol. Don’t you feel a sense of achivement? You wouldn’t feel that if you had bought it. It’s a lovely sweater and beautifully made and what does it matter that it took so long and you had so many adventures along the way. That’s the price we pay now-a-days. It takes me ages to make a sweater now with all the stupid mistakes I make just because I’m not thinking and think I can do it like I did when I was younger. I feel proud when it’s finished and I like what I’ve done (that’s another thing) at my age.

Hi Ann, well, I used to feel a sense of achievement but now it is something different. It is the fun of thinking of something different and then trying to do it. I don’t like making sweaters anymore and I am surprised I am in the mood now. I am working on using up the yarn I have stored for years.
However, I am still at the stage where I won’t buy a sweater. LOL!